Mr. Feeny Remains the Greatest TV Teacher

Sitting behind his wooden desk at John Adams High School, he wasn't particularly the most plot-driven character or the character with the best jokes, but Mr. Feeny was always there. He's like broccoli or making your bed—something you didn't realize how important it was until you got older. And then you look back on Boy Meets World and realize that it was William Daniels that made the TGIF-staple so incredibly important. Twenty-five years after its original premiere, it's clearer than ever: Mr. Feeny is the greatest teacher TV has ever seen.

He started out as Cory Matthew's neighbor and sixth grade teacher (and first grade, but we're not discussing plot holes) before moving along with them to high school, becoming principal, and eventually a professor at Cory's college. The short of it is: Mr. Feeny was always a major character in the lives of his students.

Sure, Mr. Turner was the heartthrob English teacher who rode a motorcycle to school every day, but was he going to teach you about the Bill of Rights so that you can use your newfound knowledge of the right to peacefully assemble to foil another student's attempt to vandalize the school ? I think the hell not.

In its seven-season run, Feeny seemed to be the closer: the one who made a low-brow episode into something grander. On the rare occasion that the series decided to get serious, it was Feeny who sat at the center of the plot. He coached his students through some of their most complicated teenage moments. Whether they were navigating a fellow student being abused at home or the complicated topic of sexual harassment, Mr. Feeny always had a piece of advice on how to make sense of the world.

George Feeny contains all the classic staples of a good teacher on television. He had the moral authority of Saved By the Bell's Miss Bliss and the camaraderie of Glee's Will Schuster. But while most of the teachers we see on television strike one specific note, there's something truer to form about Mr. Feeny. He's not just the trope that speaks in grandiose wisdoms. His relationships with Cory and Shawn and Topanga and Eric move beyond a one-dimensional character because it highlights the complicated line that teachers are expected to walk between an authoritarian and a mentor—an educator and a friend. The reason that Mr. Feeny didn't always seem to be a star is because he couldn't be. Some shows are about the teacher. This one was about what was being taught.

At 91 years old, William Daniels is still out there teaching us, be it in an operating room or in his original classroom. But his most iconic place in the hearts of kids who grew up in the 90s will be as Mr. Feeny at the head of the classroom, offering advice that's well outside of his job scope—not because it was required or even appropriate, but because he's the greatest representation of what a teacher should be. He is someone who leads with his heart and mind at the same time.

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